Florida Chamber Continues Push for Workers' Compensation Reform

The Florida Chamber of Commerce released the following statement after the House Economic Affairs Committee backed HB 511, sponsored by Rep. Matt Hudson, R-Naples, that would limit the amount doctors can charge their workers' comp patients for dispensing prescription drugs from their office.

Closing the repackaged-drug loophole will immediately eliminate a key cost driver in rising workers compensation rates while also ensuring that workers receive important medication and medical care, Teye Reeves, Florida Chamber of Commerce policy director, stated in a release.

Workers compensation reform is part of the Chambers priorities for the 2012 session.

The bill, estimated to save businesses $62 million in workers compensation costs, would allow Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty to grant an immediate 2.5 percent rate reduction.

On Wednesday, the Senate Health Regulation Committee amended a similar bill in the Senate to require that insurance companies receive $15 credit on any doctor-dispensed drugs that cost more than $25, as proposed by the committee chairman, Sen. Rene Garcia, R-Hialeah.